Krugman is dead wrong (I hate to say this. I like his stuff) Israel in fact is like America! "Erroneous Israeli warnings about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction ahead of last year's U.S.-led invasion were based on speculation, not fact, parliamentary investigators said Sunday, but stressed that intelligence agencies had not tried to mislead Israel's Western allies.

A report released Sunday said Israeli intelligence concluded there was a high probability that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, despite little evidence backing that assessment, the report said. Estimates of Iraq's weapons arsenal also increased inexplicably ahead of the war, the report found."posted by Postroad at 6:45 AM on March 31, 2004

Postroad, the Haaretz article Krugman is quoting is about the assassination of Yassin, not Iraq.

skallas, ever think of doing a whole 5 seconds of research and doubling the value of the piece? I mean, I know linking to NYTimes Op-Eds you agree with can be fun...for you...but in this case, it seems so obvious that "Haaretz Daily" should link to the Haaretz Daily article, while "Krugman" should link to the NYTimes OpEd which everyone who cares has already read.posted by jbrjake at 6:55 AM on March 31, 2004

I agree with this post. It clearly proves that the government of France is everything our press says it is.

Which, judging by what they say it is, is a nation needing regime change more than North Korea.posted by kablam at 7:02 AM on March 31, 2004

nofundy, don't think of it as my defacating on a thread. Think of it as my defacating on ideas such as yours. A big, smoking loaf right on top of your stinky green runny political spoor, to let everyone know that your feral pack isn't the only one in town. That despite being asthmatic chihuahuas who can make endless and annoying "yip" sounds, even a few dachshunds can whup on you and leave you whimpering and castrated in the corner.posted by kablam at 8:07 AM on March 31, 2004

...and nofundy points it out. i really don't see the point of posting this. This is old news and opinion. I do not get it, wait, it is skallas...no.

"Where will it end? In his new book, "Worse Than Watergate," John Dean, of Watergate fame, says, "I've been watching all the elements fall into place for two possible political catastrophes, one that will take the air out of the Bush-Cheney balloon and the other, far more disquieting, that will take the air out of democracy.""

...and this from john dean.
and another of krugmans idol dolls Bob "naval intelligence" Woodward.

"Mr. Bush blamed Iraq despite the lack of evidence are confirmed by many sources — including "Bush at War," by Bob Woodward."

but we save the best for last
"This administration's reliance on smear tactics is unprecedented in modern U.S. politics — even compared with Nixon's. Even more disturbing is its readiness to abuse power — to use its control of the government to intimidate potential critics."

Does Krugman have a 35 year limit on historical analysis and analogies? He never heard of GEMSTONE, the illegal invasion and bombing of Cambodia, Watergate?

Some people were saying, nay said worse about Roosevelt (teddy) after the "Panama coup" in the early part of the last century.

As i see it, Bush and co., concerning the intel debacle about WMD, were "cooking the books" at best, which can be easy to prove, hard (in this case impossible) to prosecute.

..."an opinion piece in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz about the killing of Sheik Ahmed Yassin said, "This isn't America; the government did not invent intelligence material nor exaggerate the description of the threat to justify their attack."

this burns my butt but it is an opinion. I have some retort for our friends at Haaretz.

At least we did not have to steal a part of our nuclear program.

"After the 1967 war, France stopped supplies of uranium to Israel. These supplies were from former French colonies of Gabon, Niger, and the Central Africa Republic. Israel had small amounts of uranium from Negev phosphate mines and had bought some from Argentina and South Africa, but not in the large quantities supplied by the French. Through a complicated undercover operation, the Israelis obtained uranium oxide, known as yellow cake, held in a stockpile in Antwerp. Using a West German front company and a high seas transfer from one ship to another in the Mediterranean, they obtained 200 tons of yellow cake. The smugglers labeled the 560 sealed oil drums “Plumbat,” which means lead, hence “Operation Plumbat.” The West German government may have been involved directly but remained undercover to avoid antagonizing the Soviets or Arabs. Israeli intelligence information on the Nazi past of some West German officials may have provided the motivation."

(though i do admire the moxy and daring to pull off the op)posted by clavdivs at 8:14 AM on March 31, 2004

quonsar: at least I added something to the thread. *shrug*

I've never gotten in your face before, and I wasn't talking to you, so I'm not sure what your problem is with me. Is it that I haven't posted anything to MeFi before? It's not like I just got here; I've been reading the site every day for over three years. I know that can't mean much next to your 4 years and thousands and thousands of comments, but after awhile, you just learn what a good post looks like. I mean, even the user guidelines say that the way to figure out what a good post is, is to read through the old posts. "As a first-time poster or new member of MetaFilter, take a look at the older posts to get a feel for what constitutes a good link." Doesn't say "To get a feel for what consitutes a good link, post enough FPPs that quonsar decides you've hit the quota and are a legitimate member of the community." Am I missing something...?posted by jbrjake at 8:54 AM on March 31, 2004

you missed the fact that i am an unmitigated asshole. which is hard to do around here but hey, you can't really be faulted for my just having gotten out of bed on a day in which it has become abundantly clear that i've wasted whatever i may ever have had to give to this world and my continued existence is futile.posted by quonsar at 9:16 AM on March 31, 2004

A big, smoking loaf right on top of your stinky green runny political spoor

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